The longest-running arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere is back this February, with the 74th Perth Festival putting together a compelling program of events across the city.
From Friday, February 5, to Sunday, February 28, 2027, contemporary European artists, major international music acts, bold new commissions and the WA community will all feature, transforming Perth’s river, coastline and public spaces.
Over the 24 days, highlights include seven Festival commissions, two world premieres and eight Australian premieres or exclusives covering all forms of art.
Young people ground the opening and closing of the Festival. An Inheritance gathers over 500 primary school children from across the state to share their knowledge, advice, jokes and memories at an interactive exhibition at PICA – at the festival’s end, the collection will be sealed away for a century at WA Museum for the next generation to discover.
Festival closer Kite Choir sees the South Perth Foreshore/Gaboordjoolup play host to a free interactive installation, featuring floating kites that carry songs, stories and wishes from young voices around the world.
Perth Festival Artistic Director Anna Reece said, “This is a Festival that brings the world and Perth confidently into conversation. A reminder that extraordinary art belongs here, and that Perth has something to say to the world.”
On the performing arts front, highlights include genre-bending Latvian/Polish play ROHTKO, part opera, part visual artwork Operation:Orfeo, Michael Keegan-Dolan’s joyful and tender dance theatre work 1975 | Naoi Déag Seachtó Cúig and Venice Biennale award winner Taverna Miseria.
From WA’s own The Last Great Hunt comes witches.exe, a theatrical trip through the early internet. The world premiere sees projected worlds colliding, with sculpture, puppetry, animation, live performance and an original score all part of the production.
East Perth Power Station persists at the centre of this year’s program, hosting live music, late-night events and creative encounters. Some of the biggest nights include a glittering love letter to the late Dolly Parton in We Will Always Love Her, a show from Grammy Award-winning Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, sample pioneers The Avalanches, US icon DJ Shadow, Mparntwe/Alice Springs producer and DJ RONA, and Perth’s own Methyl Ethel on the Main Stage.
The free music program Casa Musica returns from Thursday to Sunday throughout the Festival, while the venue itself becomes a canvas in a new commission by acclaimed Walmajarri artist John Prince Siddon.
The Embassy takes over Perth Town Hall for another three weeks for Perth Festival, bringing a lineup of musicians like Perth’s Ali Bodycoat, New York cabaret artist Salty Brine, The Waif’s Vikki Thorn with her ThornBird project, Fremantle singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly, actor and singer Ursula Yovich, British Bengali Tara Lilly, Grammy Award-winning bassist and bandleader Endea Owens and New Delhi’s Peter Cat Recording Co. to the iconic venue.
Also returning in 2027 is the Sanctum Series, expanding from St Mary’s Cathedral to the Government House Ballroom, and the Lotterywest Films program.
The Lotterywest Films season kicks off at UWA Somerville on Monday, November 23, bringing 17 weeks of international cinema to the much-loved outdoor location. Features include Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, along with films featuring familiar faces like Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close, Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Adam Driver.
There are plenty of amazing artists far away from Hollywood, with many local Western Australian works to be discovered throughout the program. The WA Ballet celebrates 75 years with Ballet at the Quarry: Kira, paying homage to their founder, Madame Kira Bousloff OAM. STRUT Dance brings back Perth Moves Battle at the State Theatre Centre Courtyard, making for an all-ages, all-styles showdown.
Barefaced Stories will collaborate with ABC Radio Perth for OFF AIR, proudly revealing the secrets they don’t usually get to share. Noongar singer-songwriter Gina Williams-Ghouse AM will join the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Warangka (Sing), with WASO also offering an intimate performance at Studio Underground, Heroes and Hallucinations.
Presented across Perth’s galleries, the Perth Festival 2027 Exhibitions Program spans deeply personal narratives, broader social questions, and the many ways we understand ourselves, our histories and our place in the world.
Perth Festival runs from Friday, February 5, to Sunday, February 28, 2027. For more info and to buy tickets, head to perthfestival.com.au
